One crazy day

None of it, though, compares to what the team went through Saturday afternoon.

I was in the press room working on a feature on draft pick Robert Brewster when the roof of the team’s practice facility went down. Had I been in the facility, which collapsed under heavy rains and violent winds, I might have ended up like the Dallas Morning News’ Todd Archer, who was briefly pinned under the wreckage. Or worse – like special teams coach Joe DeCamillis, who suffered a broken back.

Thankfully, Todd was OK. He got a helping hand from Nick Eatman and Josh Ellis of DallasCowboys.com and two rookies, DeAngelo Smith and Brandon Williams.

After one of the TV reporters in the press room got a call from a cameraman telling him of the collapse, we all raced out to the practice facility to see if we could help. Once the emergency personnel on the scene said to stay back, we all went into reporter mode.

One of the first members of the club I saw coming out of the collapsed facility was DeCamillis. Amazingly, he was walking, but you could tell right away that something was wrong. Minutes later, he would be fitted with a neck brace, placed on a stretcher and rushed to a nearby hospital. His father-in-law, former coach Dan Reeves, said DeCamillis will undergo surgery to repair broken vertebrae as soon as he is stabilized.

Four others from the club wound up in the hospital, including a scout who also had broken vertebrae and a scout with a broken leg. So far, we know of only one player who had to be treated: rookie kicker David Buehler, who suffered a concussion and needed stitches to close a gash on his right knee.

Now comes the fallout. Will there be lawsuits? Is Jerry Jones angry at the builders? Were more players hurt?

Hopefully, we’ll have some answers tomorrow. The team has scheduled a meeting for 9 a.m. today, but team spokesman Rich Dalrymple said the media won’t have access to the team.